Pot Pie How to

In case you are interested -- here's a semi-recipe for making pot pies.

First you need some chicken or turkey.  I made a half turkey breast the night before and cut the left over turkey into cubes, then reserved the bones to make stock. 

Make stock --
Throw bones in pot, add a carrot or two, a small onion or shallot roughly chopped and a clove of garlic cut in half.  If you have other things you want to add -- root vegetables, celery, etc -- go ahead.  Cover with water and add salt & pepper to taste.  Allow to simmer for at least an hour, 2 hours is better.

If you don't want to make stock, just buy canned stock, but it is *so* easy to make stock -- just try it, you will be so happy!

Make crust --
You can use any crust recipe you like (not one that has sugar -- think savory).  For mine I took out my food processor, threw in 1 c. flour, 1/4 tsp. salt and 10 Tbsp good quality butter cut into cubes.  Pulse until crumbly.  Add egg yolk while food processor is running.  Then add icy cold water -- maybe 2-3 Tbsp.  The dough will come together in one big chunk and that's when you know you've added enough water.  Take it out, flatten it into a disk and wrap it in plastic wrap or wax paper and stick it in the fridge.  You can do this hours in advance if you like.

Make sauce --
Put some butter or butter & olive oil in a saucepan -- maybe a couple Tbsp of each depending on how much sauce you want to make.  Add a small onion or shallot finely chopped.  Cook a couple minutes.  Add potatoes and root veggies -- cubed -- and cook a few minutes.  Don't cook them too long or they will start to break down.  Then add flour -- 3 Tbsp or so -- and cook about a minute so flour cooks but doesn't burn!  When it gets frothy and bubbly and looks like it is sticking to the bottom of the pan, start to add chicken stock.  I used about 2 1/2 cups.  Add a cup of milk (or cream if you are feeling decadent) and bring to a boil -- now is the time to add things like peas and corn as well as the cubed, cooked turkey or chicken.  When sauce starts to thicken, it's ready.

You can add all different things to the sauce.  I had a couple potatoes, carrots and peas, so that's what I added, but corn, mushrooms, celery and other veggies would work!

Assemble --
Roll out dough and cut to size.  If you are using little crocks or ramekins, turn them upside down on the dough and cut around them with a knife.  You could also use a casserole dish or pie plate.  Whatever you have really.  The dough might be getting soft at this point, if so, throw it back in the fridge. 

Ladle sauce into dishes, being careful not to overfill -- things will bubble up in the oven.  I put down some aluminum foil on a jelly roll pan (cookie sheet with sides) and put the crocks on that -- so worth it because clean up of baked on sauce would be a nightmare.

Cut slits in dough and then place it on top of dish/es. Press down edges to seal a bit.  Brush the tops with a simple egg wash (1 beaten egg and 1 Tbsp water).  Place in oven preheated to 350 and bake until crust is golden brown -- you want to make sure the crust is thoroughly cooked!

Enjoy your pie!

Comments

[beth]

Um, yum! I will have to try this.

[Knitnana]

Thank you! I WAS interested!
:)
(((hugs)))